RUSSELLEVILLE, Arkansas – The Ouachita men's basketball team cliched a spot in the Great American Conference Tournament after holding off a second half rally to beat Arkansas Tech 68-62 on Saturday afternoon.
Ouachita (17-7, 12-6 GAC) got things going early scoring the game's first five points in just 54 seconds. Arkansas Tech (9-15, 6-12 GAC) answered back with four points to bring it with one, but this was the closest the Wonder Boys came to closing the gap for the entire game. The Tigers pushed their lead back out to two possessions and there it stayed for the majority of the first half, minus two instances of ATU cutting it to three points. Ouachita's lead hit the double-digit mark for the first time with 8:50 on the clock. Tech cut it back to single digits, but the Tigers kept the Wonder Boys out of reach for the rest of the half and went into the break leading by nine.
The Tigers pushed their lead back out to double digits just 20 seconds into the second half. Ouachita's lead stayed in that double-digit range and reached 16 points at is peak over the next 10 minutes before Arkansas Tech found a rhythm and began to try to rally its way back. The Tigers' lead had been cut to just three points by the 6:16 mark, but Ouachita was quick to push it back to two possessions 25 seconds later. Over the final five minutes, Ouachita managed to keep the Wonder Boys just out of reach with clutch free throws to earn the 68-62 win and secure a spot in the upcoming GAC tournament.
Reggie Martin came up big for the Tigers with 21 points, five rebounds, and four steals in the win. Martin's 21 points came on 9-of-12 shooting and the Vivian, Louisiana native added a 3-for-4 performance at the charity stripe.
Hobert Grayson was second in scoring with 12 points, and led in both assists with a career-high nine and rebounds with six. Grayson's nine assists are the most since
Marvin Williams-Dunn dished out nine in the 2022-23 season. With his 12 points tonight, Grayson now sits at ninth all-time in single season points in program history.
Devyn Franklin rounds out the Tigers in double figures with 10 points.
Crew Flowers led the team with three blocks in the win.
Ouachita clinched a spot in the GAC Tournament and currently sits in third place and is just one game out of second with four regular-season games left on the schedule.
The Tigers will look to keep up the success next week when they take on first place Southern Nazarene on Thursday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Bill Vining Arena.
